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Whitecaps at Portland Timbers: Inside the game

Speedy Portland Timbers winger Rodney Wallace (right, in action against the Colorado Rapids) has four goals and five assists on the season, both career highs, despite missing six games to international duty with Costa Rica.

Photograph by: Thomas Boyd
, AP/The Oregonian

Who, and what, to watch for when the Vancouver Whitecaps visit the Portland Timbers on Saturday:

• PLAYERS TO WATCH:

CAMILO SANVEZZO, Whitecaps

The dynamic striker had developed some slick chemistry with fellow front-runner Kenny Miller. But with Miller (strained abductor) not likely to play Saturday night – will it be Kekuta Manneh, Daigo Kobayashi or Corey Hertzog as a replacement? – the pressure will be on for the Brazilian to produce.

Held without a goal last weekend against Philadelphia, the Brazilian hasn’t gone two consecutive games without scoring since early May. It will be difficult for the 13-goal man to score in Portland, however, where the Timbers have only surrendered six goals all season.

RODNEY WALLACE, Timbers

The speedy left-winger has four goals and five assists on the season, both career highs, despite missing six games to international duty with Costa Rica.

While midfielders Will Johnson (six goals) and Diego Valeri (four goals, seven assists) get considerable credit for driving the Timbers’ attack, Portland head coach Caleb Porter says the underrated Wallace is crucial to any success his club has.

“If you look at probably our best games, he was in the lineup. He brings that directness and penetration, a true left-winger. His energy, his swagger, his confidence, he’s got a bit of that panache that I think is infectious to the team.”

• THREE THEMES TO THE GAME:

COMMON THEME: After strong runs for a good stretch — Portland went unbeaten in 15; Vancouver was 7-1-2 — both teams have stumbled a bit of late. The Timbers are 1-2-1 over their last four with just three goals scored, while the Caps have lost two straight. And both clubs believe they could easily have won games they lost last Saturday — Portland falling 2-1 in San Jose and the Caps, down to 10 men for 82 minutes, losing 1-0 at home to Philadelphia.

“As I’ve said in the past and I’ll say it again, you can win a game and everything is not perfect ... and you can lose a game and things aren’t broken,” says Portland bench boss Caleb Porter, echoing a frequent refrain of the Caps’ Martin Rennie. “If you look at the performance, it wasn’t far off. We had (21) shots, which is the most we’ve had in any road game.”

MISSING PIECES: Portland will be without influential Colombian midfielder Diego Chara for the second consecutive game because of an injured toe. But Vancouver will be missing two regular midfielders in the suspended Jun Marques Davidson and Gershon Koffie and quite likely forward Kenny Miller (strained abductor). And although neither has played for a long time, Rennie notes Vancouver is also without its No. 1 centre back pairing of Jay DeMerit and Andy O’Brien.

“There’s like five of your best players. But I think you just focus on the guys that are coming in. You look at New York away (a 2-1 Caps win on June 1), we had a similar type of thing (with midfielders Nigel Reo-Coker and Koffie out and fullback Y.P. Lee not starting) and the players who came in stepped up and got us a great result.”

OUSTED INTO LINEUP? Yes, it’s been speculated before, but after back-to-back losses could Danish signing David Ousted, who has been looking good in training, finally get his first MLS start in goal for the Caps?

Incumbent Brad Knighton, the MLS player of the week just a few weeks ago, certainly wasn’t to blame in either of the losses, but Rennie concedes he’s looking at things more closely.

“You start analyzing training a little bit more and thinking about what’s the best decision for that game, but also what’s the best decision for the medium- and long-term.” Rennie said the fact the atmosphere in Portland is as hostile as any in MLS won’t sway him. “I think both goalkeepers could handle that atmosphere and do well.”

Speedy Portland Timbers winger Rodney Wallace (right, in action against the Colorado Rapids) has four goals and five assists on the season, both career highs, despite missing six games to international duty with Costa Rica.

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